Adding a feather to the country’s crown of achievements and making the country proud, Dr Santhosh G Honavar, a Hyderabad based Ophthalmologist has achieved the unique title of being the first Indian Ophthalmologist to receive the Life Achievement Honour Award, the highest award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology(AAO) conferred to its members.
The award was handed over to Dr Honavar recently at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology held in San Francisco.
Dr Honavar was chosen for this award to recognize “contributions to the Academy, its scientific and educational programs, and the advancement of ophthalmology”. The American Academy of Ophthalmology, in a citation announcing the award, states that “Dr Honavar’s contributions have been instrumental in supporting the Academy’s mission to protect sight and empower lives.”
Dr Honavar in response said, “I’m indebted to the great Ophthalmologists and my teachers and mentors such as Dr Jerry and Carol Shields, Prof. NN Sood, Dr Gullapalli N Rao and Dr Manipal S Sachdev, who has been my role models. I rededicate myself in the duty of treating eye cancers-to save a life, salvage the eye and optimize vision.”
Formerly the Director of the Department of Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery and Ocular Oncology, Dr Honavar currently heads the Department of Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery and Ocular Oncology and National Retinoblastoma Foundation at Centre for Sight, Hyderabad and leads the Medical Services team and the educational wing – CFS Education.
Eye cancers have been the principal focus of Dr Honavar and he is known to have contributed to the understanding and treatment of tumours affecting the eyelid, ocular surface, intraocular structures and orbit. Dr Honavar’s overall research contributions have had a very significant impact on the diagnosis and management of retinoblastoma and its outcome. Dr Honavar has extensively published in peer-reviewed journals with significant impact (over 250 manuscripts with a powerful H-index of 43) and has written several book chapters while being a reviewer for all the major journals in ophthalmology and oncology.
Dr Honavar leads the International Council of Ophthalmology oculoplasty fellowship curriculum development committee and the oculoplasty section of the residency curriculum development committee. He is also on the ICO panel for ICD-11 and AJCC-8 committee. He recently completed his term as the President of the Asia Pacific Society of Ocular Oncology and Pathology. He is currently the Scientific Program Coordinator of the Oculoplastics Association of India and member of the Oculoplasty Program Committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr Honavar runs a very active fellowship program in Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery and Ocular Oncology and has trained over 70 national and international fellows. He also runs the ICO international retinoblastoma fellowship, training young ocular oncologists from Asia and Africa.
Apart from this, he is also the editor of the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to Medical Sciences in 2009.

Source: ANI news, Business Wire, Indiaeducationdiary.com

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